Door latch construction



Feb 21, 193. E. D KASER Y ,1

DOOR LATCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 16, 19:57

2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 21, 1939. E. D. KASER' DOOR PATCH CO NSTRUCTION 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 16

I 11 0-611 ror 5 4 4 72 @552 Patented Feb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES DOOR LATCH CONSTRUCTION Everett Kaser, Aurora, 111., assignor to Durabilt Steel Locker Company, Aurora, 111., a corpcration of Illinois Application January 16, 1937, Serial No. 120,849

3 Claims.

This invention relates to latching mechanisms for doors and particularly to a type of plural latch construction suitable for steel locker construction.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of latch mechanism particularly designed for steel lockers of the general type shown in my Patent No. 1,532,245,- issued April 7, 1925; and to provide an improved form of latch and latch-release mechanism with improved structural details of various parts having advantageous arrangement, durability and emciency and being simple to assemble and construct.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a steel locker equipped with my improved locking mechanism, the door being shown in a partly opened position.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Fi 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the latchcarrying fingers.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail taken on a plane parallel to the free edge of the door and showing the relation of the latch-releasing bar to a series of latches.

Fig. 5 is a similar section on a larger scale with some of the parts broken away.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken on the line B 5 of Fig. 5. i

Fig. 'l is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line ll' of Fig. 1 with the latch finger housing partly broken away to illustrate the structural arrangement of the parts within.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the bumper cushion that is carried by the finger.

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 5.

In the form shown, the locker is a box-like casing 1! having a hinged door 2 forming substantially the entire front wall of the locker and surrounded by a stiif angle iron frame 3.

The door 2 is preferably made of a single piece of sheet metal having stiffening flanges extending inwardly along each of its four edges. The flange 4 which forms the free or swinging edge of the door is bent upon itself so as to form'a rectangular hollow tubular bar for reinforcing this edge of the door, and also serves as a housing for the latch-releasing and operating mechanism.

Secured at suitable intervals on the door post are a plurality of bracket-like abutments having forwardly extending fingers 5 carried by Z-shaped arms 6 riveted or welded on the door frame 3. In the drawings three such abutments are shown and these are widely spaced apart so as to effectively prevent springing of the door and interfere to a minimum degree with free access to the 5 interior of the locker.

The body of the finger 5 is a boxlike housing for a latch bolt 7 and is preferably integral with bracket arm ii, being formed by bending the plate first forward, and then back to provide sidewalls spaced apart sufficiently to accommodate thebolt for free sliding movement. The upper edges of the walls are flanged inward at 8 to meet and form a top closure for the housing.

The bolt l is preferably of flat rectangular cross section and its vertical contour is shown in Fig. 7. It is seated in the housing of the finger 5, and has abeveled tongue 9 extending downwardly below the housing which serves as the latch proper for securing the door as will be described. The bolt l" also has an upper lug Iii and a lower lug H and is cut away between said lugs to provide a seat for the spring [2 which bears between the lower lug ll and an ear l3 which is struck out of the inner side wall of the latch housing. A backing plate Hi serves to close the rear side of the latch housing, and also to reinforce the back of the arm 6. The plate l4 7 has a flange at l5 positioned to lie against the outer wall of the finger 5 and has apertures adjacent this flange to receive hook shaped lugs it on the back edge of the housing. The backing plate also has a lip H on its bottom edge which coacts with the lug H to limit the downward movement of the bolt I.

To assemble the latch finger the upper end of the bolt I is passed into the housing from the back end below the car It and then turned to its vertical position with the lug l0 overhanging the ear l3, as in Fig. 7. The compression spring 12 is then put into place and while the bolt 'lis held in an elevated position the backing plate M is applied over the hooked lugs Iii, slipped upward so as to be held thereby and fastened inthis position by a small bolt l8 which is passed through registering apertures provided for it in thearm 8 and the backing plate [4. The arm 65 also carries a rubber bumper I!) which is shown in perspective in Fig. 8 and in position in Figure 6. This bumper has lugs 20 which are seated in appropriately located apertures in the arm 6 and latch housing 5, as will be understood from Figures 6 and 7.

The flanging of the free edge of the door is such as to form a rectangular tubular housing 2| which accommodates a channel-shaped latch releasing bar 22. This housing 2| is partly open on the side which is inward from the free 'edge of the door, but embraces the bar 22 sufficiently to effectively confine it and the bottom flange 23 of the door is provided with an appropriate aperture to allow the bar 22 to be slid into the housing 2| from the bottom. The housing 2| in its rearward face is provided with keeper apertures 24 suitably shaped to receive the box-like finger 5 and the lower edges 25 of these apertures 24 are appropriately positioned to engage the beveled edges 26 of the latch bolt 1 and retract those bolts when the door is closed, allowing the tongues 3 to extend into latching position as shown in Figs. 5 and 7 when the door is fully closed. These latch tongues 9 therefore cooperate directly with the latch release bar housing for securing the door. The latch release bar 22 is also provided with apertures 21 adjacent the keeper apertures 24 of its housing, and these apertures 21 are sufficiently long vertically to avoid interference with the latch tongues 9 when the release bar 22 is in its lowermost position. Lugs. 28 are struck out of the back wall of the bar 22 in suitable position to extend across the lower tips of the latch tongues 9 so that when the bar 22 is lifted the latch tongues will be lifted against the action of their springs to a position where they clear the keeper shoulders 25 and permit the door to be opened.

A lock 30, Fig. 1, of any appropriate design is mounted on the panel portion of the door adjacent the reinforcement 2|, and has a bolt 3|, Fig. 5, which enters a keeper aperture 32, to lock the latch release bar against being lifted.

A handle 33 on the outside of the door has lugs 34 and 35 which extend through slots 36 and are bolted to the latch release bar 22. The apertures 36 are extended sufficiently in a vertical direction to permit the handle 33 to be lifted sufficiently to release the latch tongues 9, through movement of the release bar and a handle 33 is provided with upper and lower shoes 31 which cover the slots 36 when the handle is in its normal lowered position in which it is shown in Fig. 5. The lower portion of the handle is provided with an eye 38 which registers with. eyes in padlock lugs 39 to provide locking means in addition to the key-operated lock 30.

In order to cushion the upward and downward movements of the latch release bar 22, bumpers 40 and 4| are mounted on the latch release bar and a clip 42 is welded or otherwise fastened to the inner face of the door and provided with overhanging lugs 43 and 44 to cooperate with the cushions 40 and 4| respectively. These cushions are simply rectangular blocks of rubber carried by a clip 45 secured to the release bar 22 by the same screw 46 which secures the lug 35 of the handle to the latch release bar. The clip 45 has wings which form abutments for the cushions 40 and 4|, and then extend through said cushions into apertures in the bar 22 to secure the cushions 40 and 4| against lateral displacement.

The operation of the device shown has been for the most part described in the foregoing description of the structural arrangements, and it will be understood that to open the door when it is unlocked it is merely necessary to lift the handle 33 and then swing the door open. On lifting the handle the release bar 22 is lifted, and the lugs 28 simultaneously push all the latch tongues 9 to their retracted positions. There is a substantial advantage in having the latch tongues 9 mounted on the door stop brackets 6 and having them cooperate directly with the door instead of having the bar that is operated by the handle 33 carry the latches and cooperate with fixed keepers on the door stops because this arrangement results in a simpler and more efficient structure, less likely to get out of order. It will be seen also that the herein described mechanism permits the latch releasing mechanism to be locked while the door is still open so that the user need simply close the door to effectively lock the same without the necessity of retaining the key in its position up to the moment of closing.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a door latch construction, a door having a plurality of shouldered keeper apertures arranged along and adjacent a movable edge of said door, abutment means opposed to said free edge of the door and comprising tongues positioned to enter said keeper apertures, latches carried by said tongues and movable into and out of latching position with the shoulders of said keeper apertures, and a latch release bar mounted on said door and being slidable along said movable edge and having a plurality of shoulders respectively positioned to abut and retract said latches through the longitudinal movement of said release bar.

2. In a door latch construction, a door having a channeled reinforcement along one edge, an abutment opposed to said reinforcement and having a box-like latch casing extending toward said door, a spring-pressed latch extending from said latch casing, said reinforcement having an aperture to receive said casing, a keeper shoulder fixed on said reinforcement coacting with said latch, a bar housed in and slidable on said reinforcement and carrying a shoulder positioned to release said latch from said keeper shoulder, and a handle movable on said door and having connections for operating said bar.

3; In a door latch construction, a door, a hollow reinforcement extending along and adjacent a movable edge of said door, said reinforcement having a plurality of shouldered keeper apertures formed therein, abutment means opposed to said reinforcement and comprising fixed tongues positioned to enter said keeper apertures when the door is closed, latches carried by said tongues and movable into and out of latching position and engagement with the shoulders of said keeper apertures, a latch release bar slidably mounted within said reinforcement and having a plurality of shoulders respectively positioned to engage and release said latches through the longitudinal movement of said release bar, and a handle movably mounted on said door and connected to actuate said release bar.

EVERETT D. KASER. 

